On Nov. 30, 1804, the U.S. Senate opened its only impeachment trial against a U.S. Supreme Court justice. The House of Representatives’ charges against Associate Justice Samuel Chase stated that his partisanship affected his decisions. While Chase narrowly escaped removal from the court, his trial placed the court’s impartiality into question. Between his appointment in 1796 and his impeachment in 1804, the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans fought bitterly over the role of the federal